Zachary Thomas Brandt must also register as a sex offender for life.
A Collegeville man who raped and sexually assaulted a drunk, unconscious teenager in Skippack Township four years ago is headed to state prison for up to 10 years, receiving his sentence nearly four years to the day of the crime, and must register as a sex offender for life.
According to court records, Zachary Thomas Brandt, 25, of the 400 block of Bridge Street, was sentenced Friday to 4½ to 10 years in state prison on a charge of rape of an unconscious person in connection with the July 22, 2020 incident at a home on the 1000 block of Collegeville Road.
Per The Mercury, Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Steven T. O’Neill ordered three years’ probation consecutive to parole, for about 13 years of total court supervision.
Brandt was found guilty after a two-day trial in April. He initially faced up to 57 years in prison on the charges.
Per reports, Brandt maintains he is innocent and did not apologize at his sentencing, telling the judge he will never be on the defendant side of the table ever again.
“She was drunk. She was high. She was passed out and he took advantage. He saw an opportunity and he jumped on it,” Assistant District Attorney Meghan Carney told the jury in April. “She was not participating in that sex act. She was blacked out. She didn’t know what was going on. She did not want to have sex with the defendant. She did not consent to have sex with the defendant because she was unconscious.”
However, Brandt said it was consensual. His attorney, Thomas C. Egan III, argued that his client and the victim made “alcohol-fueled decisions” and it was a “sad” incident.
On July 22, 2020 at 6:24 a.m., the victim and her 20-year-old friend went to Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Skippack to file a sexual assault report, police said.
It was revealed during the trial that Brandt, another individual and the victim were at the 20-year-old friend’s house for heavy drinking the night of July 21 that went into the early morning hours.
The victim went to a bedroom to pass out at some point in the evening, prosecutors said. Prior to that, per court documents, she got so drunk and high that she got sick, and did not recall what occurred after she passed out.
When her 20-year-old friend walked into the bedroom around 5 a.m., the friend found Brandt having sex with the naked victim, who was unaware of the act, per reports. Brandt then told the friend, “It wasn’t what it looked like,” per the affidavit.
Read more on the conviction here.
